What did you say: slang dictionary for mums with teens or tweens

If you’re a Mothers Who Work regular, you’ll know that I also run a tuition business called Geek School. With more than 100 students attending different schools, and coming from different areas, keeping up with what the children are saying (slang, for ‘old ladies’ like us!) is a task, I tell you!

Here’s a breakdown of some of these terms, which I have had my 13-year old gloss over to avoid embarrassment!

Low Key

Low key can be used in place of what us mums would normally say is the “down low”. It means something you don’t want everyone to know about.

Woke

This is one of the biggest buzzwords going round at the moment and you will also hear many adults across the globe (US YoutTubers, for example) using it. ‘Woke’ was even chosen by Oxford Dictionaries as one of the words of 2016, so it’s a real word now. Basically, the more ‘woke’ someone is, the more they understand a topic or a person.

How to use it: “Love hearing those dads praising their wives for all the hard work they do in looking after their children and working, they are so woke!”

Savage

Surprisingly, it means vicious, or conceited – who would have thought that a word would actually mean what it was intended to?How your child may use it: “Sarah cancelled her party at last minute, savage.”

Ship

An abbreviation of the word “relationship.” The word describes fans’, or stans’ (a hybrid of ‘stalker’ and ‘fan’), and also means approval of fictional or desired romances.How to use it (if you dare): “They’re so cute together, I totally ship them.”

FR (for real)

This one is nice and simple! Basically it’s a way to agree with what has just been said.How to use it: “I am loving all the new box sets on Netflix right now. FR”.

High Key

This is the opposite of low key, obviously. When something is high key, it is the truth and there is no denying it. Basically, you love it!

How to use it: “I high key love the way Theresa May wears her pumps.“

Calm

This is the new “sweet”. It means it’s fine or cool, don’t worry about it.How to use it: “Shall we split the bill?”“No I’ve got this. It’s calm.”

Extra

This describes when someone does something that is over the top; or something isn’t necessary. How to use it: “I gave her my business card and she followed all my social media channels. That’s so extra!”